Chapter 34

"So Shepard," shouted Kaidan over the hail of bullets, "bet you thought you'd never have to wear armor again?!"

"Shut up, Kaidan!" Leela reloaded her Paladin as another round whizzed past her ear. "Just make sure you subdue them; not kill them!"

"No shit!" Kaidan pulled away the weapons from a couple of nearby settlers before gently throwing them into a bush.

Leela shot forward with her biotics when she noticed a decrease in enemy fire. The people that had been firing on them stared up at her in shock as she pointed both her pistol and shotgun down at them.

"Lay down your weapons," she ordered.

She could see the fear in their eyes; guns shaking in their hands as they realized who was staring down at them. The asari leading them nodded and set her gun on the ground as the turian and salarian followed suit.

Holstering her weapons, Leela lifted theirs and sent them flying toward a nearby rock before speaking into her radio, "Steve, we're clear to bring in the supplies."

"What supplies?" barked the turian stepping forward. She was a large female with black facial markings and silver plates. She was young, judging by her voice, but old enough to have served given the tattered state of her armor.

The asari stepped forward and gently pushed the female back as she spoke, "I believe a more correct question would be, 'Why have you brought us supplies?'"

"If you're willing to listen and not shoot at us," fumed Leela as she puffed her chest up, "I'd be more than happy to explain."

"Fair enough," conceded the asari with a nod to her cohorts. When they were gone, she extended her hand, "Jee Regala, I'm the head of this settlement." When Leela took her hand she apologized, "I am sorry for our behavior Commander."

Leela gave her a nod before correcting her, "It's Rear-Admiral now."

When they finished their conversation, Leela was surprised to see how much the settlers had calmed down. She couldn't really blame them for their initial reaction. Leela and her team had arrived with military equipment. Though lightly armed, it had been enough to send the settlers into a frenzy and began firing at the seemingly unexpected arrival. Leela could have sworn that one of the people working under her had sent word ahead, but given their greeting it was clear there had been a miscommunication.

"Once again, Rear-Admiral…"

"Just call me Shepard," chuckled Leela at Jee's insistence of calling her by rank.

"Very well, Shepard," the name rolling clumsily off her tongue. "I would like to extend to both you and your people our gratitude in helping us rebuild."

"We need to stand side by side," replied Leela with a sincere smile. "If we don't then the victory was for no reason."

"It's still odd to see the geth helping us," replied Jee as she watched a Prime and several pyros begin repairing a destroyed building.

"Just treat them with respect and they will do the same."

"I'll make sure to pass along the message." Jee nodded, giving Leela one more handshake before heading off to facilitate her people.

When she was alone, Leela let out a loud sigh finally able to relax. It had been a huge risk arriving in the manner that they had. With an unidentified signal to go on, they had little choice but to conscript armed frigates as escorts for their transport. Leela had been reticent to join in this mission, since it meant her having to possibly engage in combat. Before entering the atmosphere, she'd gone through the usual process of equipping her armor. She even wrote an entry but she was still uncomfortable. She had hoped she wouldn't have to be sent into active combat, but given the circumstances, she'd been foolish to think they wouldn't fire back. It was why she ordered the use of non-lethal rounds when their scanners picked up bio-signatures of Citadel space species. If she hadn't, they'd be burying bodies instead of fixing buildings along with the pride and injuries of the settlement's citizens.

"Shepard!"

Leela broke her gaze from the geth workers and turned to see Tali approach with a geth hunter.

"Tali," she said with a smile, "and…."

"Nare," replied the geth with a higher register than Leela expected.

"Nare," repeated Leela with a slight inclination of her head. "What can I do for you?"

"I was coming to report that we should be able to leave the planet in about three standard weeks." The usual weariness in Tali's voice told Leela that there was more unwelcome news.

"Nare," inquired Leela with a small sigh, "can you leave us for a moment?"

"Of course," replied the Geth with a small bow. "Shepard-Admiral and Tali'Zorah."

When Nare was gone Tali removed her facial coverings and took a deep breath.

"Keelah this planet is murder on my sinuses."

"I thought you had taken the treatment," chuckled Leela as they began walking toward one of the buildings.

"That doesn't mean I still can't have an adverse reaction to unknown flora." Tali removed a small handkerchief and blew loudly into it before handing Leela a pad. "That's the shipping manifest as well as the duty roster for our visit."

"An additional two weeks!" Leela exclaimed after reading over it. "That explains it," she mused after seeing the condition of the prefab units and their supply levels. "I'm surprised they've lasted this long."

"Well, they've had to make do," groaned Tali after blowing her nose again. "My people have already sent in reports of irrigation systems and several species of animals. They were lucky they had prepared before the war. If they hadn't, the turians on this settlement would have starved."

"Good," sighed Leela taking a sip from her canteen. "Do you need to visit the medical tent?"

Tali shook her head after yet another prolonged sneeze.

"I'll be fine in a couple days. Remember I'm a quarian, we adapt to our illnesses."

"Still," smiled Leela with a pat on the engineer's head, "get an antihistamine or something. I can't have you covering our hosts in phlegm."

"Fine," groaned Tali snatching her pad back, "I will mail you the information once I get this," she motioned at the small dribble on her nose, "under control."

Deciding it best to accompany Tali, Leela made sure she was taken care of before heading to the transport ship to check on the unloading. It was progressing smoothly. At least a third of the supplies they had brought with them were already unloaded and the equipment for night work was already in place. The settlement was in desperate need of repairs and resupply and Leela was glad to be of help. As she returned to her quarters on the transport, she was glad to strip out of her armor and take a shower. She still had several reports to file and calls to make, but after that fire fight she was in need of some form of relaxation.

Just the mere thought of firing her gun again sent shivers throughout her body. As the water pulsated against her back, she couldn't help but watch her hands tremor violently. Balling them up, she slammed them against the wall until she felt her fists go numb. It didn't do much, but Leela was glad to lose the feeling for just a moment. When she finally did regain feeling, she cleaned herself up and was fine until she heard a loud slamming noise from inside her room. Putting on her robe, she reached for the spare gun she kept hidden in the bathroom and burst into her quarters to see Steve and Joker cleaning up familiar looking black case.

"Hey Shepard," said Joker with a slight blush on his face. "Umm, you think you want to x-y-z?"

It wasn't until she noticed Steve's averted gaze, Joker's pulling at his cap, and the hint of a breeze brushing past her nethers that Leela realized that she had forgotten to put on her pants. Returning to the bathroom, Leela pulled on her sweats and came out asking, "What the hell is this?"

"This," announced Steve with a satisfied smirk, "is one of those containers you kept in your old quarters."

"One of my…."

Leela shot forward not caring at what the two of them saw and began inspecting the container. It didn't take long for her to find the markings. Rubbing her fingers along the knife marks she'd made, Leela let out a loud sigh and stood up excitedly. First, she gave Steve a tight hug and a kiss before turning to Joker and doing the same, albeit much more gently.

"Thanks," mumbled Joker stepping away quickly and resting on a nearby chair, hands understandably in his lap.

"Sorry," apologized Leela as she readjusted her robe. "It's just that I didn't realize you guys had found these.

"Actually," replied Steve with a nervous cough, "Garrus has most of them. This one we didn't even know had gone missing until now."

"Who had it?" Leela didn't care that Garrus had seen the others but the thought that someone else had gotten to them bothered her.

"It was actually in Alliance lock up," explained Joker his hands fidgeting in his lap. "They were keeping them in case you didn't come back and they needed to make a film or something. They tried to get the ones Garrus has, but when they came for them..."

"Of course he was prepared for them," Leela laughed and sat down on case giving it a gentle pat. "Thanks guys," she sighed contentedly before pointing at the door. "Now get the hell out of here so I can get changed or I'm going to tell EDI and…"

"Detzan," added Steve.

"Detzan, that you two did more than drop off a container filled with my journals."

Both men hurried out the door and Leela finished dressing. Then she left the ship with a fresh journal and pen in her hand. Most of the day crew was clocking out for the evening and she accepted some of their pads before settling down in the mess area that Jee had pointed out earlier. Finding a table in a corner before digging into her meal, she pulled one of her journals out form the pile of pads. Then uncapped her pen and began writing; stopping only to eat. She had no real thoughts on what to say, but it was best to get it out the way she used to back when she was younger and frustrated. It felt good to let it everything out especially the way the past couple of years had been. Even when she had been captive she had few people to talk to. She didn't have the means to express herself beyond the occasional painful scream from her surgeries or the violent outbursts she had when doing farm work for her captors. As her pen flew across the paper, Leela remained unaware of a presence until she decided to take a sip of water. When she did, she saw a young turian boy and girl staring at her.

"Hello," she replied giving them a smile. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"You shot at our mother earlier," stated the boy calmly.

"I did," replied Leela after a moment's silence. "I am sorry that I did it but we were protecting ourselves."

"Why didn't you use real ammunition?" asked the girl with a curious twitch of her mandibles.

"Well," grunted Leela after taking another bite of pasta. "We didn't know who we'd encounter or if they were friendly or hostile so we didn't want to take the risk of unnecessarily hurting people."

"Does it make any difference?" asked the boy with a scalpel-sharp glare.

Leela stopped mid chew caught off guard by the question and swallowed loudly before nodding. "Considering that we took that precaution; I'd say it does."

"But what about the gunships?" the girl questioned; her gaze no less penetrating than her brother's.

"Those were a precaution as well," answered Leela. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest but she remained calm.

"I don't like the contradiction," commented the boy shaking his head. "If you're willing to take the heavy armaments for air support you should take them in for your ground support as well."

"Neither do I," sighed his sister. "Humans are weird."

Both of them turned and wandered away back toward their mother who immediately set to scolding them. Leela didn't need to be a master in picking up on the subtleties of turian emotions to know what she was saying. The furious glances of the female in her direction was enough to tell Leela that she'd be better off on the ship.

"Anything I can do about that, Shepard?"

Turning, Leela saw Tali and Sam standing behind her watching the turian scold her children before returning them to their seats. Shaking her head, she pointed at the two empty chairs across from her and closed her journal. Sam had decided to go with the stew and it actually smelt quite delicious, while Tali stuck with a regiment of fruit.

"Trying to kickstart the process with vitamins," asked Leela after swallowing a mouthful of pasta.

"Yes and no," Tali sighed as she sniffed what looked like a piece of melon before biting. "I've been craving sweeter things lately. Doctor says it's a possible side effect of the treatments. But they won't know until the blood work is done."

"That's a bit ominous," commented Sam after taking a bite of stew drenched bread. "I mean they don't normally run blood tests unless it's serious."

"It's not uncommon among quarians," remarked Tali after sipping at her tea.

"Need me to put in a call to Chakwas or Michel?" Leela was growing a bit concerned about Tali's lax attitude at the situation.

"It's a cold," chuckled Tali. "If it was anything more, I would have contacted them right away. But, this is a cold and I'm taking the necessary precautions just to make sure."

"Okay then," Leela sighed before turning to Samantha. "How're those reports going?"

"Today's work went smoothly," commented Sam as she handed Leela a pad. "But we're still going to need a few more days before we can fully get a handle on something resembling a set schedule."

"Can the settlement spare anyone? Engineers or scientists?"

"Very few," sighed Sam as she took her pad back. "This is a farming settlement so most of them have a rudimentary knowledge of what needs to be done." She exhaled loudly and took a large bite of stew before saying, "But it still won't help since we'd need to spend time correcting and training them."

"Then do it," Leela barely acknowledged Sam's argument and ordered, "They need to be trained. We can't stay here forever and even the people who decide to stay are going to need help. Better they learn it now rather than when an accident happens."

"Of course," conceded Sam as she made a note on her pad. "I will contact Jee and her people tomorrow."

"Never thought I'd see that again," Tali shook with silent laughter and refused to stop when Leela glared at her.

"What's so amusing?" Leela was confused but found herself smiling nonetheless.

"You acting like a commanding officer," teased Tali as she sipped her tea. "I rather miss it."

"I don't."

Leela and Tali turned their attention to Sam who asked with a shrug, "What?"

"You don't miss being aboard the Normandy?" Tali asked, sounding offended at the prospect of Sam not enjoying her time aboard the ship.

"I never said that." Sam stuck her tongue out at Tali before taking another bite of stew. "I'm merely stating that I did not enjoy certain aspects of serving with Shepard."

"What the hell did I do to you?!" exclaimed Leela through a mouth full of pasta.

"I seem to recall a large amount of ass chewings because I misfiled a report once or twice." Sam gave Leela smirk before adding, "Not to mention how many times I caught you and Garrus…"

"All right," sighed Leela tossing down her fork, "I get it. I was a bit of a pain."

"Well, we all had a reason to be," said Tali with a reassuring pat on Leela's shoulder. "Not every day that you have to worry about impending galactic doom."

"Yeah, worry," Leela mumbled; fork clattering against her plate.

Her appetite dissipated, Leela gathered her things and left the mess hall heading out into the night. The planet was rather beautiful, more of a deciduous forest than anything and rather brisk, but overall pleasant. The sky was a deep purple and the stars had an odd blue reflection to them that Leela hadn't seen before. Walking through the work area, Leela was granted several salutes by the military personnel and she returned them half-heartedly, her mind weighted by darker thoughts. Deciding that she needed to occupy her mind, Leela headed toward the workout area of the transport ship when she was interrupted by what felt like a wall.

"What the f…," she looked up to see a large man standing in front of her dressed in an Alliance engineer's outfit and a ball cap.

She couldn't quite place it, but she felt like she'd seem him somewhere before. He was tall, broad, and tan with eyes that were a gentle brown. He had a lot of freckles but it was his chin, nose, and eyes that bothered her. The way they fit his face was eerily familiar, but the shock on his face kept her from probing too deep.

"Sorry," she took a moment to look over his outfit, "Specialist Taushir."

"It's okay, Rear-Admiral." His voice was deep and gentle, a sign that he had yet to really see combat. He gave her a quick salute before taking her hand, "I should have been paying more attention."

"No worries," she said feeling a smile form on her lips. "Are you starting or ending?"

"I'm done with my shift, ma'am."

She could tell he was nervous and giving his arm a gentle squeeze she said, "You been with the Alliance for long?"

"I just graduated basic about seven months ago," his words were rushed and she could feel him tense up at her touch.

"Relax, Corporal," she said with what she hoped was a calming smile, "I'm not here to cause any problems. I'm just going to hit the gym before going to bed."

"It's not that, Rear-Admiral."

Leela could see his eyes peering at her beneath the brim of his cap. She wished the lighting were better so she could get a better look at his face but he was keeping himself hidden quite well, as if he didn't want to be seen.

"Then what is it?" she asked as the communicator in her ear begin to beep. "Pardon me. Yeah?"

"Shepard, it's Traynor."

"What's the problem, Sam?"

"No problems. It's just that you have an incoming transmission from Garrus."

"Thanks, Sam. Tell him I'll get back to him in a few." Cutting the link she turned her attention back to the corporal and asked, "Sorry about that. You were saying?"

"It's nothing," he said with a forced grin. "You should go and take care of whoever is trying to contact you."

"Corporal," she reprimanded, knowing exactly what kind of grin he was giving her. "If someone is giving you problems, I can help you sort it out. Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about having to stick up for yourself."

"It's not that kind of problem," he shook his head as he gave her a quick salute, "but I appreciate the concern, ma'am."

"Okay," she said after returning it. "If you have any problems, I do keep an open line of communication. Even if you're staying here for a while. I take a vested interest in those under my command."

"I'm sure you do," he scoffed with what she could swear there was a hint of contempt in his voice. "But, I have a feeling the person you need to call back takes more precedence than a soldier like me."

"Okay," answered Leela rather shocked by his reply. "Still," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "just because I may not have a personal connection with you, doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you. You're someone under my command and that means a lot more to me than just giving orders to you."

"Thanks," he said with a heavy sigh. "But, I'll be okay for now."

"All right," she said releasing his arm and heading toward her quarters. "My door is always open," she called back as she entered the lift.

But when she looked, he had already left the cargo bay.

Up in her quarters, Leela dropped into her chair just a little too hard and let out a whine of pain as she hit the padding. Rubbing the base of her spine, she checked her omni-tool and was glad to see it was only nine in the morning on Earth. Inputting the necessary information, Leela waited as her monitor buzzed. As she waited, she began flipping through the pads. She made a few notes before glancing at the screen, suddenly falling out of her chair to the floor with a surprised screech.

"Ha ha," said a voice on the other end as it removed a werewolf mask. "I scared you."

"Yeah," gulped Leela as she climbed into her chair, "that you did Kevin. Is Garrus around?"

"He's getting Ismene ready for bed." She could see that the boy was already wearing his pajamas, an oversized tee-shirt with a small brown and white creature on the front. "Do you need me to get him?"

Despite her initial misgivings, Kevin and Ismene had reached the point over the past several weeks to where the two of them could have polite conversation with her for a few minutes. It wasn't much and the kids lost interest with her after a few moments, but it was an important step since they now no longer looked at her with discerning glares.

"I'm right here, Kevin." Garrus appeared behind the boy and nudged him out of the way, "Get to bed."

"Okay," sighed the boy giving Garrus a hug. "Good night."

Both adults said good night and when he was gone, Garrus let out a loud sigh.

"What's the matter?" Leela scanned Garrus for any signs of stress but the most she could see was his hand shaking slightly.

"I've uh…," she watched his eyes and noticed that he was averting his gaze, like he was trying to hide something from her.

"Garrus," she said calmly, "what's the matter?"

Letting out another loud sigh, he turned his gaze to her and said, "I had an accident."

"What kind of accident?" she failed to sound calm as the last accident he had was the reason for the slight tremor in his hand.

"I…," he stopped and let out a low growl before continuing, "I fell down the stairs at Kaidan's place."

"Okay," Leela was unsure of how this was an issue, "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to need surgery," his voice was cold and firm, telling her that this was a non-negotiable. "The medication isn't having as much of an effect as they thought, so they're going to go in and try to see if an implant will help regulate what's going on."

"How long will you be out of commission?" she asked, trying to tried to hide her worry but a humorous flick of his mandibles told her that he already picked up on it.

"At least two weeks; three at the most," he grumbled, sounding less than excited at the prospect. "Mostly because they want to make sure that it doesn't adversely affect my motor skills and everything."

"Okay," she gave him a reassuring smile and leaned forward. "What do you need me to do for you?"

Garrus gave a nervous chuckle, "That's the thing. I'm not sure you'll want to."

"Garrus," she laughed scooting her chair a bit closer, "ask me."

"Will you take the kids?"

Leela felt her stomach clench at the request but she nodded anyway, "Yeah."

"You want to take a moment and think about it?"

She laughed with him and shook her head, "I don't need to. They're important to you and so they're important to me. But, would they have a problem staying with me on the Citadel? I don't think they'll like me staying in your house."

"That's fine," Garrus gave her a soft look. "They liked your place…felt more like home."

"Hey," she gave him a smile, "you've given them that."

"I know," he sighed heavily, "they just deserve more than a multi-room prefab unit."

"Maybe when they get used to the concept of 'us,'" she pointed between the two of them, "then maybe we can talk with them about moving or maybe building a place for us on Earth or even Palaven."

"You have any ideas?" Garrus looked intrigued at the concept. "I mean I know a lot of places on Palaven that I can show you. Shit," he swore as he lost control of his hand and knocked over a glass that was sitting on the desk.

"You okay?" Leela eyed him cautiously as everything but his head disappeared below the desk. "Should you be bending over?"

"I still have a good hand and I'm not dizzy." Garrus tossed the bits of glass into the garbage before sighing, "When will you be back?"

"Two, maybe three weeks. It all depends on what goes on with the settlement."

"Okay," replied Garrus, clenching his fist. "I'll set the surgery for about four weeks out. They said I'm not in any immediate danger and if need be, your mother said she could take them if things go south."

"All right," replied Leela. "I will see what I can do with getting out of here early. Just in case."

"Stay. That's an order from me to you."

"I don't think you're in any position to order me around, Vakarian." Leela's voice dropped a bit and she could see a mild flutter to his eyes.

"You sure about that," he purred, noticing depth in her voice.

"I don't know," she answered licking her lips, "I think I'm going to need a bit more convincing."